1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-user communications system and, in particular, to an operation for managing multi-user, multi-session access to a shared communications link.
2. Description of Related Art
Reference is now made to FIG. 1 wherein there is shown a functional block diagram of a wireless local loop arrangement 100 using a wireless Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer (W-DSLAM or a xe2x80x9cradio headxe2x80x9d) module 102. A high-speed common carrier network 104 is connected from one of its Asynchronous Transfer Mode ATM switches 106 to the W-DSLAM module 102 over a high-speed wireless link (aggregate path) 108. The aggregate throughput provided via the wireless link 108 is approximately 40.0 Mbps. The W-DSLAM 102 functions to multiplex this aggregate throughput into a plurality of wireless distribution channels 110. Each wireless distribution channel 110 is capable providing a throughput of between (approximately) 384 Kbps and (approximately) 2 Mbps. At these operating throughput rates, the W-DSLAM 102 is capable of concentrating a substantial number of channels into the single high speed wireless aggregate path link 108. Although only one W-DSLAM module 102 is illustrated it will be understood that multiple arrangements 100 may be connected to the common carrier network 104, and further that multiple W-DSLAM modules may be interconnected with each other in a tree or ring topology within the context of the present invention. Each of the wireless distribution channels 110 is terminated at one or more network termination (NT) nodes or modules 112, each of which being provided at a user""s (or subscriber""s) home, office, business, or any other facility. The network termination module 112 may further operate in a multiplexing fashion to allow plural devices (D) 114, each requiring a portion of the bandwidth provided by the wireless distribution channel 110, to be connected for communication. Examples of such devices 114 include: a computer, a telephone, home appliances, office devices, and microprocessor controlled components and the like.
The high-speed common carrier network 104 is provided as a Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) or related Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) ring 120 formed from a plurality of cable interconnected ATM Add/Drop Multiplexers (ADM) 122. Other network elements, such as a server 124, routers 126, and ATM switches 106 are interconnected to the ring 120. The ATM switches 106 connecting with the W-DSLAM 102 over the link 108 comprises a point of presence (POP) node for providing wireless local loop arrangement 100 access to the common carrier network 104. This POP ATM switch 106 is preferably connected to one of the ring ATM/ADM modules 122 via a high-speed link 130 capable of throughput in the order of several hundred megabits per second. As one example, the high-speed link 130 may be implemented to transport an Optical Carrier 12 (OC-12) optical signal with a throughput of around 622.080 Mbps.
The multi-user shareable wireless local loop distribution channels 110 may advantageously utilize Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) modem technology to support transmission operating rates that are capable of delivering a host of broadband applications such as multimedia, video-teleconferencing, video-on-demand, games-on-demand, and the like. Preferably, a suitable Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) or Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) scheme may be utilized for the air interface required for implementing these point to multi-point distribution channels 110. Further, the air interface may be provided in accordance with standard protocols such as ANSI-136 or GSM, using a common carrier signal, for example, a 200 KHz (for a 384 Kbps data rate) or 1.6 MHz (for data rates up to 2 Mbps) signal.
A network management system database 134 is connected to the W-DSLAM module 102 via a communications link 136 that may comprise a network connection. The database 134 maintains data concerning not only users and their services but also the configuration of the wireless local loop arrangement 100 and network 104. The database 134 further performs some active management functions concerning ensuring proper operation and configuration of the wireless local loop arrangement 100 and network 104 by monitoring performance and providing dynamic response thereto.
A plurality of terminal nodes each capable of handling for a given user a plurality of sessions are connected to a multiplexer node operable to aggregate that session traffic onto an aggregate communications link. This connection is made over a shared point to multi-point communications link from the multiplexer node to the plurality of terminal nodes. Regulation of user and session access to the shared communications link is effectuated by a session dispatcher functionality. That functionality includes a dispatcher for each terminal that operates responsive to a received command to regulate session traffic access to the shared communications link. A proxy agent for the functionality at the multiplexer node operates responsive to configuration data to determine (a) which terminal nodes and (b) which sessions being handled thereby are to be granted access rights to the shared communications link and issue the necessary commands to the dispatcher to implement that determined allocation.